Secondary battery.



N0.ve2,82. BEST AvAlLABLE CQTBNTED JUN-E21 1m J. P. CLARE. SECONDARYBATTERY.

AIfPLIoATIoN FILED 00T.. 31. 1902.

Np MODEL.

imlillllllswly WITHSSEES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES P. CLARE, CF QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS.

SECONDARY BATTERY.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 762,882, dated June 21,1904.

Application filed October 31, 1902.

To (LN, wil/nn, llt fm1/y con/cern:

.Be it known thatl, JAMES P. CLARE, acitizen of thc United States, and aresident of Quincy, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Secondary Batteries, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of thisspecification, in explaining its nature.

The invention relates to a secondary or storage battery; and it consistsin means whereby the inconveniences of the ordinary free exciting fluidin the battery-cell are avoided, the purpose of the invention being toprovide what may be termed a dry or apparently lluidless secondary orstorage battery.

In practicing the invention any form of electrode and any kind of activematerial located in any desired way in' a suitable holding or containingvessel or cell may be employed, and there is used, in conjunction withsaid electrode and active material, as a substitute for the excitingfluid or liquor (sulfuric acid) which is generally employed, a body ormass of lightly-compressed cocoanut liber which has previously beensaturated with sulfuric acid, the whole forming an absorbent cellularsubstance which is not attacked by the action of the acid with which itis saturated, but which serves to uniformly hold it in its cells andporesand among its fibers and throughout its mass and without reducingthe acid to the ferm of a continuous liquid body in the cell or jar. Themass of saturated fiber being more or less aerated throughout, is heldin contact with the active material borne by the electrode, and thusfurnishes a structure Which is apparently fluidless and which willpermit the Vessel or cell to be used in any position.

l will now describe the invention more in detail in conjunction with thedrawing forming a part of this specification.

Referring to the drawing, A represents a vessel of any desired form andcapacity adapted to hold the electrode B, active material C, and theso-callcd dry exciter D. The electrode may consist of any number of leador other suitable plates 7, and they may be coated serial No. 129,517'.en model.)

or covered in any desired way with the active material C.

The drylexciter D of the impregnated and saturated cocoanut fiber iscontained in the vessel and so as to bear against the active rnateria]of the electrodes, Wherever that may be, and has' sufcient resiliencywhen compressed in the vessel to continuously bear against said active fmaterial and form practically a continuous'contact therewith. Where theelectrode consists of three plates, as represented in the drawing, thedry exciter will generally be contained in the vessel between theplates.

aswell as between the outer plates .and the vessel. The dry exciter ismade of the liber of the husk or outer covering of the eocoan ut. Thisliber, I have ascertained, has the property .of resisting thedestructive action of sulfuric acid and when prepared and treated ashereinafter described will .absorb and hold sulfuric acid of thedesiredstrength and not be broken down or formed into a paste-like mass by it.In other Words, its integrity is maintained, so that it serves tocontinuously hold the acid and prevent it from running together in thevessel and forming a continuous body of the liquor either in the form ofa paste or in any other form. The fiber is prepared for use by beingreduced to a granular form, preferably by grinding and by being washedin fresh cold Water and then dried. 1t is then soaked in sulfuric acidof the desired strength for battery-Work as long as may be desired andat least for five or six hours, and it absorbs and holds the acid muchlike a sponge absorbs and holds water; but its cellular structureapparently is not destroyed by it. then applied to the electrodes andactive Inaterial with a mild pressure, but only suiiicient to `pack itagainst the exposed surfaces nf the active material held upon the platesin the vessel of the battery, and by capillary or other attraction thesurface of the active material exposed to the dry exciter is maintainedsufficicntly moist lto insure the working of the battery for relativelylong periods of time, while, the battery is devoid of a fluidiin theform of' an independent or continuous body.

In case the exciter actually becomes dry for` It is. Y

ason its activity may he restored by 'it to the desired extent withwater. i-ted to be charged in the usual way ie employed iu the manner inwhich or seeondar)7 batteries are usually 'its advantages consist in thedecrease -fg'ht, which comes from the Substitulighter exciter for theliquid form, from doing away with the use of a a destructive. characterwhich tends material with which it comes into and also bccauseit may beused in amis in which a liuid battCllY CdUUOC l@ le l have described theuse of a dry exposed of granules of cocoanut liber flied sulfuric acid,l do not wish to stood as limiting the invent-ion to graniiics of thischaracter, as the granules otA any.' :iaf'nirial or substance which arenot broken 762,882l B'EST 'AVAlLABLE C'l"l down or destroyed b fsulfuricacid or similar strongexciting fluid and which will act to contain,hold, or absorb it may be used.

Having thus fully described my invention, l. claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States- A secondary or storage battersTcomprising a vessel or cell, an electrode contained in it, activematerial associated with the electrode, and an exciter contained in thevessel in excitingrelation with the active material, consisting' ofgrains of the husk or coating of eocoanut having a porous structuresaturated and combined with sulfuric acid or other liquid exciter andindestructible thereby.

JAMES?. CLARE.

W itnesses: F. F. RAYMoND,'2d. J. M. DoLAN.`

